SWMS contributing editor Lindsay Ciulla writes: Welcome to a new series focused on agency management concerns. Each month we’ll share a new post dedicated to issues and concerns that senior staff deal with on a regular basis.
So, you pre-briefed a group of reporters on an upcoming announcement, with the expectation that they’re going to post a story shortly after your embargo lifts. You and the client worked closely together to make sure the reporter had all assets they’d need for a story.
“This week I’ve had a record number of people tell me they cannot talk to me because their PR department has blackballed me for no clear reason,” Chrissy Farr Tweeted on Apr. 6. “So glad you opened this door,” Tweeted CNBC editorial director Matt Rosoff the next day. “Every week I am stunned anew by how some PRs assume our business works, vs how it actually works.”
I’d love to say that every single time I’ve worked on a major announcement or campaign, things went perfectly – but that’s unfortunately not exactly how things go in PR. One of the most crushing let-downs is when an exclusive falls through. How do you react? What do you tell your client?
Occasionally a client may ask, “What’s the big picture in B2B tech editorial?” If you’re lucky, that is. Usually they’re waiting for your deliverables. But every now and then it helps the client-agency relationship to go have the proverbial beer and discuss what’s happening in B2B edit, in the seams where it’s hard to notice.
YOUR ACCOUNT
FRIDGE NOTES
Here’s how Mike Isaac presents himself. A single perfunctory paragraph doesn’t cut it anymore in a world of disinformation and synthetic, AI-generated content where no one really knows the agenda. The NYT wants to get out in front of that, especially before the 2024 elections heat up. Read the background behind this in Vanity Fair.
Legendary journalist Louise Story reveals how the smartest edit shops are using AI. Here come the flexicles.
Sara Fischer of Axios nails another scoop: Time is merging its Time Ideas section into a new one, called Time100 Voices. It doesn’t promise big opportunity for tech PR — it aims so high that only the Benioffs and Nadellas stand a chance.
Recent research from Semrush, a data partner of ours, reveals the most searched societal issues based on average monthly Google searches between January 2019 and June 2023, and how they rank across 35 countries. Searches related to mental health are skyrocketing.
It is now called AI Time To Impact, and if you care about what’s real in AI and when we need to care about it, AI Time To impact is a must-read.
Says Digiday today: 40 percent of Gen Z uses TikTok or Instagram when searching for lunch recommendations. The younger you go, the tighter the grip held by platforms. Musk’s calculation that few will ever leave X might not be too far off in the long run.
